Rail anchor



Jan. 21, 1930. L. R. PARSONS RAIL ANCHOR Filed April 9, 1929 PatentedJan. 21, 1930 UNITED S ATE- LOUIS R. PARSONS, or s'rnonenunsr, rumors AL ea e npplication filed April 9,

This invention relates to an improvement in rail anchors, in the use ofwhich the rail is anchored with respect to the'tie against longi tudinalCreeping. A ii The invention coinprehends a unitary orintegralstructurewhich may be re adily connected to or disconnectedfromthe rail, and which when in place will have such relation to the railand tie that any creeping tendency 0 in the rail will act to compeltin-increased wedging cooperation between the rail anchor andtheraih tothereby additionally resist a y e r tend nc i t 're Th P ma y o j of thP e ent in e tion is the provision of a rail anchor which, as a resultof its construction, is, when applied, disposed in wedging cooperationwith the rail supplemented'bya clamping action designed to inherentlyincrease the wedging ene t on t there y inse s the bs u e fixing of theancho s il d in the direction of rail creeping. i '1 i A further objectof the present invention is the provision of a wedging column whichextends from the clampingjaw portion of the anchor to underlie andengagethe tread of the rail, with such wedg ing column atall times at aninclination to the'vertical plane of the clamp portion of the anchor,so'that when theanchor driven to place, the wedging column has a wedgingrelation with the ball or tread of the rail, incident to and a directresult of applying the g rnchor.

The invention illustrated in the accompanying drawings, which t Figure lis a {View showing the rail in transverse'isection and the anchor infronteleva tion. v I v Figure 2 a side view of thesame.

Figure '3 is a "perspective view of the anchor. i a

Figure A is .a side elevation of the npper P -fl e s the c e eb l e n ae larged scale. I i

Figure 5 is van ,end elevation of the anchor showing particularly thenormal inclined or offset relation of he wedgingcolumn.

The improved rail anchor, which is preferably constructed of roundhighlte'nipered steel ofappropriate diameterfcomprises a 2 Se l a 1 w?-t'ie engaging bar 1 adapted to underlie the rail, and centrally formedwith a rounded depending offset 2. The bar l is terminally formed at oneend with a hook 3, designed to engage with and beyond one edge 4: of thebase flange 5 of an ordinary rail 6, the rail of course including theweb 7 and ball or tread portion 8.

The rail engaging bar 1, at the end opposite the hook 3, is formed in'areturn bend to provide what may be termed a clamp having upperand lowerjaws 9 and 10. These jaws are normally spaced apart to permit thepassage of the edge of the base flange 5 between them, the clampingspace between the jaws being restricted at the inner end, as at 11, toinsure a cla-mping'engagement with the upper and lower surfaces of thebase flange. This clamping space is, outwardly of the restricted Por o 3at 12.

The upper 9 of the clamp of the anchor is ektended'upwardly as a wedgingcolumn 13. This wedging column is of a length e;- ceeding the distance.between the upper jaw 9 of thdclamp and the bottomof the ball or tread.portion 8 of the rail. The column inclines inwardly from the end of theclamp jaw 9 toward the web of the rail, and also inclines from theend ofthe'clamp jaw 9 at an angle to the'verti'cal planepas sing through theclamp and bar 1.

Thus, the rail anchor includes the bar 1 and clamp whicharedisposed inthe same vertical pianae a the wedging column which risen-om the clampat a dis tinctangle to this vertical plane. It is understood that theanchor is asubstantially rigid structure, and that it" is normallyconstructed with the wed ging column atthe angle described. 'Thus,inapplying the rail anchor, the wedging column is normally in"'we' -1gingcooperation "with the ballortread of't h'c'rail. i L

' In the application ofthe anchor, the clamp engaged with" one edge ofthe base flange oftherail, with the bar l'underlyingthebase flangeofthe'railandthe hook 3 immediately adjacent that edge of the baseflange remote from the clamp. Inthis positionfthewedggradually enlarged,as indicated h ingcolumn rises from theclanip at an angle to thevertical and underlies the outer portion of the ball or tread of therail. The anchor is then driven into place, until finally the hook 3engages the edge of the base flange of the rail. During this movement,the wedging column has been driven into wedging cooperation with theball of the rail, and incident to the fact that the wedging column isinclined from the vertical, the wedging action of the upper end of thecolumn with the ball of the rail tends to slightly turn the clamp fromits vertical plane, as indicated clearly in Figure 2. There is ofcourse, under this slight distortion of the clamp, an inherent tendencyin the jaws of the clamp to return to the normal position that is to aposition in which the clamp proper is in a vertical plane. This inherenttendency obviously tends to move the free end of the wedging column in amore effective wedging cooperation with the tread of the rail. As thewedging action of the column cannot be increased by this tendency of theclamp. it is apparent that the inherent tendency of the clamp tends toefiec tively maintain the wedging cooperation of the column, while thewedging cooperation of the column tends to maintain the slightdistortionot' the clamp. The wedging action and clamping action are thusmore effectively maintained as a direct result of the application of theanchor, and without other operations than the mere application of theanchor.

[The upper or free end of the wedging column, while slightly rounded andproperly finished for smooth cooperation with the surface of the treadof the rail, is inclined with respect to a vertical plane passingthrough the column, such inclination being indicated at 14 in Figure 4,and being in the direction of wedging movement of the column. Thisinsures effective surface bearing between the end of the column and theball of the rail, and further prevents any possibility of the wedgingcolumn ever assuming a vertical position.

The characteristic and important feature of the present rail anchor isthe provision of a wedging column which is normally at an inclination tothe vertical plane passing through the rail bar and clamp of the anchor.

his inclination of the wedging column insures awedging cooperationbetween said column and the ballot the rail as a direct result of theordinary and usual application of the anchor. That is to say, with theanchorapplied in the usual manner, the wedging cooperation of the columnand the slight distortion of the clamping action, result as a directincident to the application of the anchor, and without requiring anyfurther driving actions, applications of force, or operations on theanchor. The mere driving of the anchor to placesecures the full result.

Of course it is understood that the anchor is applied adjacent the sideof a tie, as indicated at 15, with the wedging action of the columnarranged to resist creeping of the rail.

It is to be particularly emphasized that a salient and underlyingfeature of importance of the present anchor is that its wedging columnis inclined to the vertical plane of the anchor in the normal relationof the anchor parts. That is to say, the extreme upper end of thewedging column is materially offset from the plane of the remaininganchor parts, so that the wedging column is in wedging position as adirect result of and during the application of the anchor.

lVhat is claimed to be new is:

1. A rail anchoradapted for clamping cooperation with the base flange ofa rail and having a portion to bear against the supporting tie, saidrail anchorincluding a wedging column normally at an inclination to theplane of the anchor.

2. A rail anchor including a tie engaging bar, a rail engaging clamp atone end thereof, and a wedging column extending upwardly from the clampand inclined to a plane of the clamp.

3. A rail anchor having a tie engaging bar, a rail flange engaging hookat one end thereof, a rail flange engaging clamp at the opposite-endthereof, and a wedging column rising from the clamp and normally at aninclination to the plane of the anchor.

4. A rail anchor having a bar to underlie the rail, a clamp to engageone edge of the base flange of the rail, and a wedging column normallyinclined to the plane of the anchor and designed for wedging cooperationwith the ball of the rail in the application of the anchor, the wedgingcooperation of the column and rail ball corespondingly distorting theclamp to cause the inherent clamping pressure to increase the wedgingengagement of the column with the ball of the rail.

5. A rail anchor having means whereby the anchor may be secured to therail, and a wedging column having its free terminal oflset from theplane of the anchor, whereby to provide an inclined wedging columnhaving a normal wedging position.

6. A rail anchor including means for connecting the anchor to the rail,and including a wedging column inclined with respect to the plane of theanchor proper and also inclined with respect to a vertical planetransverse the anchor proper, whereby in normal position the wedgingcolumn is normally inclined in two directions.

7. A rail anchor including means for con necting the anchor to the railand a wedging column forming part of one of said means and normallyinclined with respect to the plane of the anchor, said wedging column inthe application ofthe anchor increasing the holding efiect of the railengaging means of the anchor.

8. A rail anchor having means to removably engage the base flange of arail and including a Wedglng column rising from the anchor proper at aninclination to the plane of the anchor, said Wedging column providing arigid non-yielding member normally in Wedging relation to the rail inand during the application of the anchor.

9. A rail anchor constructed of metal substantially circular in crosssection and of uniform diameter throughout, said anchor including aclamp to engage one edge of the base flange of a rail, a bar to underliethe base flange of the rail, a hook to engage the opposite edge of thebase flange of the rail, and a Wedging column rising from one arm of theclamp at an angle to the plane of the anchor.

10. A rail anchor constructed of metal substantially circular in crosssection and of uniform diameter throughout, said anchor including aclamp to engage one edge of the base flange of a rail, a bar to underliethe base flange of the rail, a hook to engage the opposite edge of thebase flange of the rail, and a Wedging column rising from one arm of theclamp at an angle to the plane of the anchor, said wedging column beingalso inclined with respect to a transverse Vertical plane passingthrough the anchor. 9 In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

LOUIS R. PARSONS.

